Jaune's Journey
by Metabee21
Summary: Jaune somehow manages to get into the top of the tower where Pyrrha would fight Cinder. Would Jaune presence changed the outcome of the events in that battle? Could he be able to hold his own against Cinder? What would become of both Jaune and Pyrrha after the battle? The fic is set at the end of Volume 3.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone. I had the idea for this fic for a while. The idea of Jaune being with Pyrrha during her battle with Cinder. Could Jaune presence in that battle determined Pyrrha's fate? The fic is set during the Battle of Beacon and the events after the battle.** **Most of this fic will be about Jaune and the other members of team JNPR along with team RWBY.**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1: To The Top of the Tower**_

Jaune and Pyrrha had reached the ground floor of the tower. The two of them were shaken and distraught with what had occurred in the basement. Amber, the Fall Maiden, had been killed by Cinder when her arrow pierced the tube that she was in and struck her heart. Upon her death, the maiden's power was transfer to Cinder and her plan was complete. Professor Ozpin had stayed behind to hold her off while Jaune and Pyrrha escaped. Jaune had his scroll, trying to call Professor Goodwitch for help when they looked backed and heard Cinder heading towards the top of the tower.

"…But Ozpin," said Jaune

Both of them could not believe that Ozpin would be defeated by Cinder. Pyrrha looked up and knew that she was the only one capable of stopping Cinder.

"No, you can't! You don't stand a chance against her. You saw how powerful she is! There is no way I'll let you!" Jaune shouting at Pyrrha knowing that she would get hurt or worse if she went up there.

Before he could say anything else, Pyrrha grabbed Jaune and the two shared a kissed. Pyrrha had loved Jaune because he never saw her as the warrior that everyone else did. Before he showed up in her life, every other person that Pyrrha had met had treated her as a goddess and feared that they would not be able to be her equal. To them, they had to work hard to reach her level and they all knew that it would be impossible to reach it. Jaune didn't know who she was when they first met and he treated her as any other regular person.

The kiss the two shared felt like an eternity for the two of them. However, reality set in and Pyrrha had to go up the tower.

"I'm sorry," said Pyrrha before shoving Jaune in the nearby locker. She pressed the buttons and set the coordinates towards Vale. The love of her life had been sent flying away.

"Stay safe, Jaune." She said before heading to the broken elevator. Using her semblance, she used the elevator car to head up towards the tower, in which Cinder was waiting.

* * *

 _Meanwhile in the locker._

Jaune was flying upwards and heading towards the city. As the locker was nearing the edge of the school, a giant Nevermore appeared and grabbed the locker by its claws.

"What is going on," said Jaune as he heard the screech of the giant bird. He was terrified as the bird was flying back towards the school. He was terrified. He was unable to get out and fight the bird, let alone falling down to his death. The Nevermore was nearing the tower when a ship that belonged to the White Fang was nearby. By this point, the White Fang had lost control of the Grimm and had decided to leave the school. As the ship was getting near the Nevermore, the members inside began to open fire in order to chase it away. The fire from their weapons made contact with the flying Grimm and the Nevermore released the locker from its claws. Jaune screamed as the locker began to fall into the tower. The locker had landed halfway between the ground floor and the top floor of the tower.

"Ahh… What happened?" Jaune said as he got out of the locker with minor scrapes. He looked around but was unfamiliar with the location since the floor that he was in was damaged. He then reached for his scroll and try to contact the first person that came up.

"Jaune!" Weiss said as Jaune called her scroll.

"Weiss… you have to stop her," Jaune said frantically.

"Where are you?"

"Don't worry about me. Just save Pyrrha. She doesn't stand a chance. She's fighting her up on the tower."

"We will Jaune. Don't worry, we're on our way."

Jaune threw his scroll down at the ground to vent his frustration for not being able to do anything. Jaune then got up and looked around to see where he was. He saw the opening in which the locker came through. He went over towards it to see where he was. Down below he saw both Ruby and Weiss heading towards his direction. It is at that moment that he realizes where he was.

"I'm in the tower! That means… Pyrrha." He looked down again towards Ruby and Weiss when a number of Grimm began to appear and surrounded them.

"At this rate, they may not make it up in time. I have to get up there for Pyrrha's sake"

He went towards the elevator shaft and forcefully open the doors. He looked and saw that the cables were detached from the elevator car and he would not be able to get up to the top floor so easily. He knew had to climb up in order to reach the top floor. He began his climb toward the top, hoping that the one that he cared for would be alright.

* * *

The battle between Pyrrha and Cinder could be heard down the elevator shaft as Jaune continue his ascent towards the top.

"Hang in there Pyrrha. I'm almost there."

Suddenly the tower shook. The source of the sudden shake-up came from above. Jaune didn't know what had occurred but knew it was not good. Debris began to fall upon him but he managed to stay where he was. It was at that time when the Grimm Dragon charged through the top floor, destroying the tower above and Professor Ozpin's office. At the same time, Cinder had managed to destroy Miló (Pyrrha's spear) leaving her only with Akoúo̱ (Pyrrha's shield) and semblance.

"I have to hurry. I have a strange feeling that whatever happened up there was not good at all. Pyrrha, please be alright."

* * *

Jaune was getting closer and closer to the top floor. He was a few feet away from the top when he heard a scream.

"That voice. Pyrrha!"

At that moment he knew that something terrible had happened and began to climb faster, trying to reach the top. Cinder had shot an arrow towards Pyrrha. To counter attack, she threw Akoúo̱ in an attempt to stop it only for it to re-materialized after making contact with Akoúo̱. The arrow at full force hit her in the heel, the Achilles to be more precise and Pyrrha was unable to move.

As Cinder went up towards her, Pyrrha asked her a question.

"Do you believe in destiny?"

"Yes."

As Cinder was preparing her bow and arrow towards Pyrrha, a familiar voice was heard.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune appeared from the rubbles of the destroyed elevator shaft to see Cinder getting ready to kill Pyrrha.

"Jaune! What... are you doing here?" she said as she struggled with the pain in her heel.

"I'm here to take you back safely with me," Jaune replied

Cinder stopped her motion and focused her attention towards Jaune.

"It would be wise for you to leave unless you want to share the same fate as her." Cinder said with a smirk on her face.

"I don't care if you are stronger than me," Jaune replied. "All I know is that a leader never leaves behind his comrade, and I never leave my friends or love ones behind. She means more to me than anyone else, and I will stop you to save her"

Jaune stared down Cinder as he readied Crocea Mors in both sword and shield form. His greatest fight to save the one he loved would begin.

* * *

 **To be continued...**

* * *

 **A/N: I was originally thinking of having Pyrrha knocking Jaune out however she would not want him to be surrounded by Grimm. This chapter was more of a build up to the next since I didn't put in much of the battle between Pyrrha and Cinder. The next chapter will be the battle between Jaune and Cinder. Please leave any comments or review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: I Fight for You**

 **A/N: Hi everyone. Here is chapter 2 of the story. I had possible titles for this one but more or less there pretty much the same. This chapter covers the battle between Cinder and Jaune.**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

 _At the bottom of the tower_

Ruby and Weiss were still fighting the against the Grimm that had prevented them from getting to the tower. Every time they defeat a few, more kept on appearing towards them.

"At this rate, we won't make it in time," said Weiss as she stabbed a Beowolf in the chest. "Pretty soon they'll be too many of them and we won't be able to make it back to the docks."

"We got to keep on trying," Ruby replied. "We have to give ourselves a window to make a break towards the tower."

"And how do you plan to get up there? Chances are that the tower a filled with more Grimm and not to mention the possibility that the elevators are destroyed after that giant Grimm crash into the tower."

"You forget I still have a plan. We just need to kill a few more Grimm to do so."

"We better hurry then. They'll overrun the school if we don't hurry."

"Pyrrha hang in there. We're coming," Ruby said to herself as she used Crescent Rose to decapitate an Ursa.

* * *

 _At the top of the tower_

"I remember you," said Cinder as she chuckled and walked towards Jaune.

"You're that boy that was easily pushed back in the basement. In fact, my comrades said that you are the one who struggled in combat classes. I am shocked that someone like you manage to get into Beacon, let alone survive all this time. You were lucky that you partner up with her. She must have saved you countless times and now here you are trying to be her knight in shiny armor." She laughed and signal the Grimm Dragon to fly away from the tower.

"I'm surprised you manage to get up here without dying. You are weak. In fact, you are nothing special. You are not that impressive."

"And what of It!" Jaune yelled. "I may not be strong as you are but I am going to stop you and save Pyrrha no matter what."

Jaune looked over to her beloved and thought " _She can't move. That arrow is in her ankle and from the look of it, her aura is almost gone. I can't carry her and fight this woman off at the same time. Dammit all! I have to hold her off until Ruby and Weiss show up. Who knows how long that will be? Get up here fast you two_."

Jaune prepared Crocea Mors in both forms as Cinder made the first move. Cinder was confident that she decided in her mind not to use the full extent of the maiden powers unless she had to. Using her dust, she formed a number of glass shards and fired them towards him. Jaune easily blocked all of them using his shield. Cinder then charged towards and used her dust again to form two blades. Her main weapon were blades that can combine together to form a bow. Jaune used his sword to block the attack. A fury of sword clashes followed between the two.

The two continued this clashes, trying to get the upper hand on the other. The two weapons clashed again only this time for a longer period of time. Jaune got close to Cinder were they made eye contact towards each other. Cinder smirked and jumped backward. As she was in the air, she combined her weapon to make the bow and fired three arrows towards Jaune. Two of them hit his shield while the third narrowly passed above Jaune's head.

"That was too close. I have to be careful."

Cinder fired more arrows towards Jaune. All Jaune could do is blocked them with his shield. He ran around in circles while blocking each arrow with his shield. He charged towards Cinder and jump to strike her with his sword. Cinder jumped back and kicked Jaune in the face when he landed and then in the stomach. The force of the second kick pushed Jaune back but his aura protected him from suffering any major damage. Cinder then charged in again using her blades, but luckily Jaune blocked it again with his sword. He pushed her blades upwards, creating a brief opening for his attack. He used his shield to swing two strong side to side blows towards Cinder's face. He delivered a third hit from the front. The third hit knocked Cinder down for a brief moment.

Before she could get back up, Jaune charged in and deliver an attack with his sword. Cinder had little time to react. She reached for one of her blades to counter Jaune attack. The force of the attack kept Cinder towards the ground. Both her and Jaune her in a blade struggle with Jaune getting the upper hand. Given her position, Cinder was losing the struggle but was still determine to fight on.

 _"_ _I can't believe it."_ Pyrrha was thinking as she watched Jaune fight. _"He is holding his own against her. He's using everything that I taught him. But he still has to hit her some more to have a chance to escape. If it wasn't for this arrow, I could help him. I can't even move. I feel useless just sitting here. I can't even use my semblance because my aura is low. I have to put my faith in Jaune. I have to hope my love can do it."_

Jaune's sword was inching closer and closer towards Cinder face. As it did, she kicked Jaune in the stomach in an attempt to push him back. The kick did hurt Jaune but it did not push him back. She then laid out her right hand away the blade. The move was risky as all the support to keep Jaune away from her was all on her left hand. When she did Jaune got dangerously close to her eye and then towards the neck.

"Had enough?" Jaune said with confidence.

Cinder chuckled. With her right hand free, she formed a glass shard. Jaune noticed the glass shard in her hand. She pointed it towards Jaune's face. At that moment Jaune jumped off her before she could throw the glass shard. Cinder stood up and began to form a flurry of glass shards. She began to throw them towards Jaune. Despite blocking a number of them with his shield, some of the shards had made minor contact with his body, giving Jaune minor cuts in his arms and legs.

Cinder jumped after finishing her barrage of glass shard to form her bow and was preparing another arrow to fire. Jaune noticed what she was doing and charged straight at her, hoping to disrupt the process before she could fire the arrow. However, Cinder had enough time to fire it. Jaune attempted to dodge it as he ran towards it. Jaune thought he moved enough to where the arrow would miss, however, the arrow made a cut on the right side of his abdomen. Despite that, he still charged towards Cinder. He attempted to stab her with his sword. Cinder was shocked when he was able to dodge the arrow at such close range. Cinder couldn't react in time and Jaune swung his swords to the side. The attack made contact her left abdomen. She barely managed to dodge his attack but the sword had made a noticeable cut on her left side of her body.

She screamed in pain. Jaune prepared another attack with his sword. This time, he used a downward swing and the blade made contact with her left shoulder towards a part of her chest. She screamed again. Normally her aura would have protected her from receiving serious damage to her body. In this case, however, she was careless and Jaune gave every bit of strength he had with his attacks. Jaune then followed a fury of sword attacks, giving her cuts across her body, legs, and arms. Despite the number of cuts, none of them were deep enough to cause serious bleeding. Cinder could only scream in pain. She was unable to move from her position.

After giving her a number of cuts, Jaune prepared his left arm while finishing his sword attacks to deliver a powerful combo attack with both his sword and shield. With all of his power, Jaune hit Cinder with both his sword and then the shield. The sword made contact with her Cinder's chest and after he pulled the sword, Jaune hit her with his shield. Cinder went flying towards the rubble near the edge of the tower. Jaune assumed that his combined attack would be enough to put her down for good, or at least put her down long enough for them to escape.

* * *

When he was sure that she wasn't getting up, Jaune rushed towards Pyrrha.

"Jaune. I can't believe it."

"There's no time. Those attacks got her but she could get up at any moment and that Grimm could come back. We have to go."

Jaune slowly removed the arrow in Pyrrha's heel as she screamed in pain with each movement. The arrow was finally out of her, however, she still couldn't move.

"Jaune. I'm amazed." Pyrrha said as Jaune was helping her up. "You have changed. You learn so much. However, I feel that she isn't dead."

"Why do you say that?"

"That power that she has can be transferred to any young woman that she has on her mind. If she had died, she could have probably transfer it to one of her comrades and that person could come after us. From what we saw, we could have seen the power fly upwards by now."

"By the way, what was that power that she got? Were you going to receive those power if she didn't show up?"

"Yes," Pyrrha said as she looked down. "But I would not have been the same. I would have been a different person if I'd obtain them."

As Jaune got Pyrrha up on her feet, he gave her a long kiss on the lips. Jaune wanted her to know his feelings towards her. For both of them, the kiss felt like an eternity that they wanted to last.

"Pyrrha. I love you and I'm sorry I didn't notice it before. I should notice it early."

"Jaune! I… can't believe… it!" Pyrrha was struggling to find the words. "Jaune… don't worry. It's better to know what we feel instead of not knowing. Not knowing whether a person feels the same way can hurt, especially if something happened to them. I am grateful that you came back. How did you get here anyway? That locker was set towards Vale."

"It's a long story but for now, we have to find a way down. Can you use your semblance?"

"I'm afraid not. My aura is almost gone and I can barely use it."

"Damn. Think Jaune think. Come on, we'll head towards the elevator shaft. You can get on my back while I climb down."

"Jaune are sure? Won't it be hard for you to carry me all the way down?"

"Ruby and Weiss are down there but we can't wait for them." Jaune was panicking as he was out of options. Pyrrha was getting ready to jump on Jaune's back when he heard a loud screech.

"Jaune the Giant Grimm is heading this way!"

"Damn it! Pyrrha get on my back!" Before she could, the floor began to shake. "What's going on?"

Before they could move any further, a fire pillar emerged from the rubble. Cinder had used the maiden's power to burn the rubble and she was beyond enraged.

"THAT'S IT!" Cinder said in a furious rage. "I WILL NOT LET SOMEONE LIKE YOU GET THE BEST OF ME! TIME FOR YOU TO DIE" As she finished speaking, she summoned another fire pillar.

Using her powers, she threw two fireballs towards the couple. Jaune pushed Pyrrha away to take the attack. He barely had enough time to transform his shield from sheath mode. Jaune blocked both of the fireballs but the second one pushed him back.

 _"_ _Dammit All!"_ Jaune thought in his mind. _"She's using those powers. And now that I made her bleed all over her body, she is enraged. I don't know whether I can handle any more of her fireballs."_

He looked over towards Pyrrha and said "Pyrrha! You have to get out of here!"

"I am not… leaving you behind!" Pyrrha was still struggling with the pain in her heel

"Don't worry about me! Just go!"

* * *

 _At the bottom of the tower_

"That enough," said Ruby. "Now's our chance. Weiss go ahead and do it"

"Got it," Weiss replied as she summoned a number of Glyphs similar to the time when they defeated the Nevermore back in the Emerald Forest. "Go Ruby! I'll be fine down here. Come back safe!" Ruby used her Semblance to obtain speed needed to jump up the side of the tower. Using the Glyphs, she made her way towards the top. However, since she was heading upwards, it was difficult for her to use her Semblance.

"I'm coming Pyrrha. Just hang in there!"

* * *

 _At the top of the tower._

Cinder kept throwing fireballs towards Jaune as he dodged or blocked each one that came his way. Jaune, however, couldn't keep this up for long and he had no chance of an attack at this point. All he could do was defend as best he can and hoped that both Ruby and Weiss showed up to get Pyrrha to safety.

"I'm getting tired of this!" Cinder said in anger. Cinder prepare to use her power to blast Jaune with her flamethrower, similar to the one used on Ozpin back in the basement.

"Jaune get out of there!" Pyrrha screamed as Cinder unleashed her power.

Using all of his strength, Jaune raised his shield and attempted to block her attack. He was able to hold on for a bit but with each second his strength to hold back the fire was fading. Cinder stopped her attack for a brief moment to summon three glass shards. She hailed them upwards and continue her flame attack. Jaune didn't notice that she stopped and continued to use his shield. As he blocked her attack with everything he had, the three glass shards came downwards. One hit his left arm, his shield arm. Another hit his right leg which supported his stance. The third and final glass shard hit his left hand to where he was holding his shield. The pain was ten times more effective as all of his power was used to block the fire. The shards had done their job. Jaune was unable to block the fire any longer and took a direct hit. He was pushed all the ways towards the rubble near the edge of the tower.

"JAUNEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Pyrrha screamed at the top of her lungs.

Jaune laid there. He could barely move his body. The attack depleted almost all of his aura and damaged all of his body. His left arm and his right leg received the most damage thanks to the glass shards. He struggled to open his eyes. When he did, Cinder threw a fireball at him. The attack caused more damage to his body and he coughed up blood from his mouth. That attack made sure that Jaune would not be able to move.

Pyrrha could not believe her eyes. The love of her life was dying right in front of her eyes. "Jaune! You have to get up. Please!" Tears began to come out of her eyes as she was struggling to stand. "Jaune!"

Cinder walked up towards Jaune and prepare her bow to fire her arrow only, this time, Jaune could not block it.

"It has been fun but you must die." Cinder said. "Take pleasure in knowing that you are one of the few people that made me this angry. I promise you that I won't let it happen again." Jaune struggle to open his eyes as he saw the bow and arrow.

" _This is it_ ," Jaune said in his mind. " _I guess… this is the end… I'm sorry mom, dad, my sisters, Ren, Nora, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang… and especially to you Pyrrha._ " As he was imagining all the people he would miss, Pyrrha used the remaining of her strength to run towards Jaune.

Cinder released the arrow from the bow. Jaune was ready. For him, the arrow was moving slower than normal speed but he knew he couldn't dodge it. He closed his eyes and prepared for his death.

"JAUNEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

…

For what felt like a moment, Jaune opened his eyes again. Only this time he was not dead. In fact, he wished he had not open them at all.

"What… PYRRHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Standing in front of him was Pyrrha with the arrow going through her heart. She looked back at him with tears coming from her eyes. As she gasped for air she said her final words,

"JAUNE… I WILL… ALWAYS… LOVE YOU!"

At the same moment, Ruby had finally made it to the top, only to witness that fateful moment. Cinder walked up toward her and using her powers turned Pyrrha into ashes. Jaune could not believe it. His eyes widened to what he just witness. All that remained of Pyrrha was her crown. She was gone.

"No. PYRRHAAAA!"

Ruby watched in horror of what occurred and yelled out her name.

"PYRRHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

When she did, a strong light emerged from her eyes. Cinder could not believe it what was going on. The entire top floor shined in a silver light that illuminated everywhere. The Grimm Dragon arrived but was caught by the light.

* * *

At the bottom, the Grimm all reacted to the light and went away from the tower.

"RUBY! PYRRHA!" Weiss saw the light from her position. Before she could move forward, Qrow appeared and ran as fast as he can towards the tower.

"Get to the docks now!"

"But Ruby and Pyrrha!"

"Don't worry I going towards them. Just go now before the Grimm return." Weiss comply and headed back to the docks.

Qrow reached the top and saw both Ruby and Jaune unconscious. He looked around but saw neither Cinder nor Pyrrha. He also saw the Grimm Dragon frozen in its place. He wanted to examine some more but knew that the priority was getting both Ruby and Jaune out of there. He picked both of them up and was getting ready to make his escape when he saw a familiar item. He grabbed it and put it in his back pocket and headed down with both Ruby and Jaune.

"So she has that power." Qrow said as he made it back towards the bottom and ran back towards the docks.

"Just what the hell happened up there?"

* * *

 **A/N: This was a lengthy chapter. Jaune could have probably held his own against Cinder without the maiden powers. That being said, I felt that Cinder would have held back if she fought Jaune at that moment, considering that they didn't consider him as a treat. As for the outcome, I felt that it was necessary for Jaune to be there at the moment when Pyrrha died so he can become a stronger person. The next chapter is the aftermath that will deal mostly with team RWBY. See you all next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 Aftermath/Departure**

 **A/N: This chapter deals with the events after the battle. Most of the chapter deals with team RWBY.** **It's also entitled Departure because of the events that occurred in the series with team RWBY.**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

 _The Docks_

Weiss was outside the last remaining airship. All other airships had left Beacon. Inside the airship were Ren, Nora, Blake (who was wounded), Yang (who lost her right arm and was unconscious), and team SSSN. The ship had remained behind after both Ruby and Weiss had left to get both Jaune and Pyrrha. The ones inside the ship were surprised when Weiss arrived alone but told them that Qrow went to get both Ruby and Pyrrha.

From a distance, Weiss saw Qrow carrying both Ruby and… Jaune? She couldn't believe that Jaune was there but wondered in her mind about Pyrrha. Before she could say anything, she saw a horde of Grimm chasing them. Normally, Qrow would have dealt with them easily, however, he was not in any position since his arms were carrying two people.

"Sun. Neptune. Help me out with these Grimm." The two appeared from the airship and along with Weiss fired their weapons towards the Grimm chasing Qrow. It was effective and Qrow made it to the ship.

"That's everyone. Pilot get us out of here." Qrow said as he got on. Weiss, Sun, and Neptune got on as the doors of the ship closed. The ship departed as the Grimm arrived at the docks. The Grimm howled at the fleeing ship.

With that being the last airship, Beacon was officially abandoned of all human and Faunus life. Only the Grimm remained at the school.

* * *

 _Inside the ship_

A few paramedics were examining both Ruby and Jaune. The others look over to see what had happened to them. One of the paramedics told everyone that Ruby had suffered a few bruises, most likely from her fight against Roman and Neo, but did not have any serious injuries. However, they could not determine as to why she was unconscious since she didn't get any head injuries and only told them that they needed more test on her.

When it came to Jaune, on the other hand, the news was not good. Jaune had suffered serious damage to his body as a result of his battle. His left arm and his right leg received the most damage and would take longer for them to recover. He was lucky that they were not broken. For Jaune, the recovery process would be lengthy than the others. Everyone aboard was worried about their friends' conditions.

Weiss, looking over at her friends, went towards Qrow. She knew that there was a person missing and she wanted to know where she was.

"Qrow. Where's Pyrrha?" She asked. "She was up there with Jaune. In fact, we didn't even know Jaune was up there. He told us that she was up there fighting against this woman. She was up there, right?"

Qrow looked down knowing that his response was not a good one.

"Qrow. Where is she?" Weiss said in a worried tone. Everyone else stared at Qrow waiting for a response. He reached for his back pocket to reveal the object that he picked up.

When he showed the object, everyone's eyes widened. It was Pyrrha's crown. "I'm sorry," he said. "I got there too late. Ruby did too. That flash of light you saw was from Ruby. She must have witnessed everything for it to activate. However, I'm sorry to tell you all that Pyrrha is gone."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Nora yelled at the top of her lungs before falling to her knees. "PYRRHA!" She began to cry. Ren comfort her and hugged her but couldn't hold back his tears. Weiss looked down and cried as well. Blake, who was next to Yang, clenched her hand with hers and cried. To them, Pyrrha was more than just a comrade, she was a friend. All of them grew close with her. They would not see her beautiful face again, or her smile which brought joy to others. Her inspirational words were no longer going to be heard. Her laughter which also brought everyone mood up would no longer be heard. Her dreams of being a hunter would never be fulfilled. The fact that they wouldn't see her again broke everyone's heart. The rest of the ride back to Vale was silent with everyone mourning for the dearly beloved friend.

* * *

 _At the safe zone in Vale_

The ship landed safely in Vale. The paramedics carried Ruby, Yang, and Jaune to the medical tent. The hospitals were either heavily damaged or located in the parts of Vale that had yet to be cleared of Grimm. Following them were Weiss, Ren, and Nora all still dealing with the death of Pyrrha. Everyone else got off the ship except for Qrow who asked to be taken back to Beacon to find Ozpin. As the ship departed, Sun noticed Blake heading towards the opposite direction.

"Blake. Where are you going?"

"I'm sorry Sun. I have to do this" Blake yelled

"Blake come back!"

"Goodbye Sun." She ran off with tears falling from her eyes.

"Blake!" Sun voiced echo but it had no effect. Blake was gone, off to the parts of the city that were not yet safe. Sun stood there for a minute before kneeling.

"Dammit!" He said as he punched the ground. His teammates showed up and asked what happened. They all got what he said and were told to keep an eye out for Blake.

Back in the medical tent, the others waited patiently outside the medical tent. The doctors were busy examining Ruby while getting both Yang and Jaune into surgery. For them, the night was one that they would never forget. They were all worried about their friends but were told to get some sleep at a nearby tent by the Atlesian soldiers. The night for them had finally come to an end.

* * *

 _The Next Day_

The skies of Vale were filled with gray clouds and dark smoke from the fires that had yet to be put out. There was no sunlight in the city. Inside the medical tent were Ruby, Yang, and Jaune lying in their beds. Weiss was sitting in between Ruby and Yang while Ren and Nora were sitting next towards Jaune's bed. All of them wanted to be there when they wake up. Sun and Neptune arrived at the tent. Both of them along with Sage and Scarlet spent the morning around the city searching for Blake but had no luck. Both of them stood there watching over their friends hoping they wake up.

"Uhuh," Yang slowly open her eyes.

"Yang!" Weiss was surprised. "You're awake." Everyone looked over towards her.

"What happened?" Yang said still trying to figure everything out.

"Take it easy. You're alright. We're in Vale."

Yang looked at her right arm and said, "Oh yeah I remember." She looked around to see who else was there. "What happened to Ruby? To Jaune? Where's Pyrrha and Blake?"

"It's a long story. But first, do you remember what happened?" Weiss asked her. Yang told everyone there everything that transpired.

"I went to look for Blake. I heard her scream. I turn and saw him. That guy she mentioned. He'd hurt her. I charged in and… and … he used his sword… I blacked out after that." She looked down after she finished her story.

"Yang. I'm sorry."

Weiss then explained what happened. "Pyrrha and Jaune fought against this woman at the top of the tower. Ruby and I went towards the tower to get them but the Grimm prevented us from getting there. I used my Glyphs to send Ruby up there. The last thing I saw was a light from the top of the tower. Your uncle Qrow went up there, but only found both Ruby and Jaune." She began to cry a little before continuing. "He said that Ruby got there too late. When she got there, Pyrrha was already… already… gone." Weiss found it difficult to finish the last sentence. "Jaune was heavily injured. Ruby didn't get too hurt but was unconscious."

Yang only had a blank stare. She didn't know how to respond to what she was told. She then asked softly "And Blake?"

Before Weiss responded, Sun stepped forward. "She's gone. When we got to the city, she ran away. I tried to stop her but she was already too far gone. She's out there somewhere and my team has spent all morning searching for her. So far no luck."

After hearing Blake's departure, Yang began to cry. The news about her broke her. She could not believe that her comrade, her friend, her best friend (and maybe more than best friend) had run away after everything that happened. Yang tried to save her but lost her right arm. She didn't say a word to her as to why she left. She didn't even stay to make sure that Yang had recovered. This is what broke Yang on the inside. Weiss tried her best to comfort her but to no avail.

" _Ruby. Please by alright_." Weiss thought as she comforts Yang.

* * *

A few hours had passed since Yang had woken up. Everyone in the tent was standing by both Ruby and Jaune side hoping that they wake up. Yang stood up from her bed, no longer crying. She only stared down in front of her.

"Yang," said Weiss "We're here for you if you need us."

A few minutes later, an Atlesian soldier came to the tent.

"Ms. Weiss Schnee. Your father is here." The soldier said.

Weiss was shocked when he said that. She went outside the tent and saw her father standing in front of her with two other Atlesian soldiers. Mr. Schnee was a tall man with white hair, a white mustache, and wearing a white suit with blue shirt and a gray tie.

"Father. What brings you here?"

"Weiss. I saw what happened." Her father said. His words became angry when he mentioned what he saw. "The Grimm and the Atlesian robots that we built attacking the city and the school. It was made worse when the transmission was cut off. In fact, with that blasted tower gone, all communications to and from Vale are cut off. I could not sit by and let you stay here under such condition. You are coming home with me."

"But father."

"Weiss. You are my daughter. I want you safe. Looked around you. Here is the last place to be safe. It's time to go. Don't keep me waiting."

"Father." Weiss try to find the words but knew that there was nothing that she could say that would change his mind. He was correct. Vale was damaged and parts of it are still unsafe. The school is overrun by Grimm. Two of her best friends are recovering in the hospital tent. Her other best friend had run off to the unknown, probably long gone by now. Weiss comply with her father. Before she got on the ship, she went back inside the medical tent. She looked at everyone who was there.

"I'm sorry. I have to go with my father back to Atlas." She began to sob as she continued her speech. "All of you were the greatest friends I could have. Once I leave, I'll have no way of contacting you. Communication is down and I don't know if I'll ever reach any of you." She went up to Yang to hug her. "Yang, you are one great person. Don't let this get to you. And tell Ruby when she wakes up that she was one of the greatest friends I am glad to have. I am grateful to have met her and to be her best friend." She went over towards Ren and Nora. "Tell Jaune that I cared for him and he is one great individual with a good heart. Tell him that I am grateful to have met him." She walked up getting to head outside the tent. She turned around. "Stay safe everyone. We'll see each other again someday."

Weiss cried as she left the tent. When she arrived at the airship, she looked back and said "Goodbye everyone." With that, the hanger closed and Weiss left the city. She was on her way to Atlas. She was gone.

* * *

The mood was silent once again. With two members of team RWBY gone, no one had any words to say. Sun and Neptune arrived at the tent to say their goodbyes as well. They were told that their team would be heading back to Mistral. They had no choice but to go. With that, only Yang, Ren, Nora, an unconscious Ruby and an unconscious Jaune remained. Ren and Nora were still sitting by Jaune's side.

"It seems everyone we know leaving," Ren said softly to Nora.

"I notice," Nora replied. "How long before we leave?"

"To where? We have no place to go. All we can do is be by our leader's side. It all we have left."

As soon as Ren finished speaking, another individual came through the tent.

"Yang! Ruby!" The man was Taiyang, Ruby, and Yang's father. Taiyang was a tall man with blonde hair and blonde facial hair. He arrived with Qrow and it seemed clear that he would be taking his daughters home. Both Ren and Nora greeted the man and looked over at Yang. Yang did not react with any emotion and hugged her father. He knew how her she felt and thought best that it was time to go.

"Goodbye guys." Yang said to Ren and Nora. "Look after Jaune will ya. He's going to need you."

"We will." Said Nora. "Just get better. And tell Ruby when she wakes up that were thankful for what she did."

"I will," Yang replied to them. Yang walked out while Taiyang carried Ruby on his back.

With that, all of the members of team RWBY had left Vale. With all of them gone, Ren and Nora had nowhere else to go and nowhere else to be. All they could do is stay by their leader's side.

"It's just us then," Ren said softly.

"I know," Nora replied to him. "It's quiet around here. All of our friends are gone."

"All of them gone. I remember those days where we would sit around and just talk about whatever comes to mind. Like your dream about the Beowolves."

"I know. That felt like yesterday. Do you remember that food fight? I was the Queen of the Castle until they dethrone me."

"If I recalled you did knock Weiss out, and send Yang flying into the sky."

"That was awesome. I wish I could have gone flying, and swooped them down from above."

"Yeah you would of." Ren chuckled a bit before sighing. "But those were simpler times. With everything that happened, I doubt that we get to do that again. Those days are gone. All we could do is move forward and hope for a better tomorrow." Nora nodded to Ren before resting her head on his shoulders.

A few minutes later, two individuals appeared. One was a middle-aged woman wearing a short blue dress and boots. The other was a tall, muscular man wearing a red jacket with a white plain shirt. They were Jaune's parent.

"Jaune," said Mrs. Arc. "Jaune we are here." Ren and Nora stood up and greeted the Arcs.

"I'm Ren and this is Nora. We are friends and comrades of Jaune."

"You two comrades of my Jaune." Mr. Arc said. "And what is your team name?"

"We are team JNPR. And Jaune is our fearless leader." Nora said ecstatically to his parents.

"Really. I'm so proud of my son. But what happened to him? And where is your other comrade." Ren and Nora looked down at them. They hesitated to tell them everything.

Before one of them opened their mouths, Mrs. Arc said "Oh you poor souls. I don't need words to tell me that something bad happened." She went over towards them and held each of their hands. "Your comrade must have been special to all of you. They must have been more than that. They must have been your friends. I know it must be hard to deal with their death. It's never easy. Nothing is. Can you tell me their name?"

"Her name was Pyrrha Nikos," Ren told with a sad tone. "She and Jaune fought against a powerful enemy. Most likely the one responsible for everything. Jaune fought his hardest, however, he suffered serious damage to his body. The doctors say he'll fully recover in a few weeks. However…" Ren found it difficult to continue with his words. "Pyrrha didn't make it. Something tells me Jaune saw what happened. All they found was her crown."

The Arcs couldn't find the words to respond what Ren told them. Mrs. Arc went up towards her son.

"He fought bravely. We're glad that he is alive. However, he has suffered a lot."

"I guess it's our time to take him home." Mr. Arc went over to Jaune and lift him up. "No point in staying here were the Grimm are still lurking. Come on we are going home Jaune."

"I thank you for looking after him." Ms. Arc said to both Ren and Nora. "Do you two have anywhere to go?"

Ren replied "We have nowhere to go. We have no home."

"I see. You two can come stay with us if you like."

"Yes, we will," Nora said. "Come on Ren, we have to be there for our leader." Ren agreed and packed their stuff to head out.

* * *

The Arcs along with Nora and Ren went forward up a hill that overlooked the city and parts of Beacon. Mr. Arc who was carrying Jaune, led the way with Ms. Arc and Nora behind him conversing along the way. Ren stopped and looked back at the scene.

He remembered the day when both team RWBY and team JNPR took down the Death Stalker and the Nevermore on the day of their initiation. He then remembered all the moments the two teams shared during their time there. He knew that they would never happen again and they would not return to Beacon for a long time.

"So long Beacon. It has been fun. Stay safe everyone."

And so team RWBY and team JN(P)R have left Vale and Beacon as they prepare for an uncertain future ahead of them.

* * *

 **A/N: I felt that it was necessary to include team RWBY departure since both teams were close to one another. Naturally, all of them leaving the city and their friends would be emotional, along with the news of Pyrrha's death. Since Yang knew about Weiss leaving towards Atlas, I assume that she was awake when she left. The next chapter we'll met Jaune's seven sisters who I assume are all younger than him, and him waking up since his battle. See you all next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 Remembrance and Grief**

 **A/N: This chapter deals with Jaune waking up and dealing with Pyrrha's death. We also meet his seven sisters.**

* * *

 ** _(This is a dream were Jaune remembers all the moment he had with Pyrrha.)_**

 **V 1, Chapter 4**

 _Jaune do you have any idea who you are talking too? -_ Weiss

 _Not in the slightest Snow Angel._ \- Jaune

 _This is Pyrrha (Hello Again) … So after hearing all of this do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team_. - Weiss

 _I guess not. Sorry._ \- Jaune

 _Actually Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader._ – Pyrrha

 _Oh_ _stop it._ – Jaune

 _Please stop it. This type of behavior should not be encouraged… Pyrrha, a little help, please?_ – Weiss

 ***** _Pyrrha throws spears at Jaune, causing him to be stuck to a locker._ ***** _I'm sorry… It was nice meeting you._ \- Pyrrha

 _Likewise._ \- Jaune

 **V 1, Chapter 5**

 _"_ _Jaune. Do you have any spots left on your team?"_

 ** _V1, Chapter 6_**

 _"_ _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee. I used my aura to unlock yours but the energy that protects you is now your own."_

 **V1, Chapter 8**

 _"_ _Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie… From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR. Led by Jaune Arc! Congratulations young man."_ ***** _Pyrrha softly punches Jaune, who falls down._ *****

 **V1, Chapter 14**

 _"_ _Pyrrha, I'm sorry. I was a jerk. You were only trying to be nice and…"_

 _"_ _Jaune. It's okay."_

 _"_ _Would you still be willing to help me? To help me become a better fighter."_

 **V2, Chapter 1 (This is one I wrote)**

 _That was awesome. – N_

 _You have to admit, it was crazy. – P_

 _Too bad we got owned, but it was interesting. – J_

 _I think we had more than enough fun for today. – R_

 _Well,_ _time to clean up the mess. – P_

 _Don't worry guys. The faster we do this, the faster we can get go back to our dorms. – J_

 ***** _Jaune slips and falls down. Everyone around laughs._ *****

 **V2, Chapter 7**

 _"_ _That's what I like about you. When we met, you didn't even know my name. You treated me just like anyone else. And thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. I guess, you're the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who just saw me for me."_

 _…_

 _"_ _Jaune?"_

 ***** _Jaune appears in a white dress_ ***** _"Eh, a promise is a promise."_

 ***** _Pyrrha smiling... then giggling... then laughing aloud_ ***** _"Jaune! You didn't have to!"_

 _"_ _Hey, an Arc never goes back on his word. Now do you wanna stand there and laugh at me, or do you wanna dance?"_

 _"_ _I would love to dance."_

 _…_

 **(Another conversation that I wrote after the dance)**

 _"_ _That was a fun night. I still couldn't believe you can dance."_

 _"_ _It happens when you grow up with seven sisters. I enjoyed the night. We all had fun."_

 _ ***** Pyrrha smiling ***** "I did have fun. Thank you Jaune." _

**V3, Chapter 2**

 _"_ _So what are we?"_

 _"_ _Pyrrha!"_

 _"_ _Sorry! I just want to make sure it's clearly defined."_

 _"_ _Pyrrha, you and I are Arkos. It's that thing, when we take our shields? Remember?_

 _"Arkos?"_

 _"_ _Yeah! It's our names put together!"_

 _"_ _Right, no, I get it..."_

 _"_ _What, do you not like it?"_

 _"_ _No, no! It's... good?"_

 **V3, Chapter 8**

 _"_ _I guess... I'm just trying to say that... you've always been there for me... even when I didn't deserve it. And I can tell there's something on your mind, so... I don't know. How can I help?"_

 ***** _Jaune places his hand on Pyrrha's, causing her to react_ ***** _"You're already doing it"_

 **V3, Chapter 12**

 _"_ _Pyrrha you don't stand a chance against her…."_ ***** _Gets interrupted by Pyrrha who kisses him_ *****

 _"_ _I'm sorry."_

 _…_

 ***** _Jaune kisses Pyrrha at the top of the_ tower ***** _"Pyrrha I love you and I'm sorry I didn't notice."_

 _"_ _Jaune. I…_

 _…_

 _"_ _PYRRHAAAAAA!"_

 _"_ _Jaune. I will… always… love you… love you… love you…"_ ***** _faded echoes_ *****

 _ **(Dream Sequence ends)**_

* * *

"Uh"

"Jaune you are awake. Hey, mom, Jaune is awake." Jaune had awakened from his dream. It had been three days since he left Vale and arrived at his two story house. In front of him was one of his seven sisters. Her name was Diane and she was the middle sister at age 11. Diane had short blonde hair and black eyes, which was the only sister to not have the same eye color as the others. "It's good to see you again big brother."

"Where am I?" Jaune said as he struggled to get up.

"You're at home. You're in your room, which the twins made a mess while you were gone."

"I'm home? Diane." Jaune stood up and gave her a hug. "It's good to see you. But how did I get here?"

"Dad brought you here. We were so worried when they did. You were asleep for so long that you had us all worry."

"Where is everybody."

"There downstairs except for dad. He went off somewhere."

"Really. I guess call everyone up here." Diane left the room for to tell everyone that Jaune was awake. A few seconds later loud stomping's came through the hallway.

"Jaune!" Coming through the door was Nora carrying three people on her. They were the youngest of the sisters. On top of her head was Zoe, the fifth sister at age 9. She had brunette hair with blue eyes. On her arms were the twins Emilia and Ella, both age 8. The twins had the same blonde hair but Emilia had blue eyes while Ella had green eyes. The three were the most playful of the sisters, considering their ages, and had made a mess of the house along with Nora who enjoyed playing with them.

"Nora! What are you doing!?"

"I'm an Ursa, and they are trying to take me down. Argh!"

"Zoe, Emilia, and Ella get off of her."

"But big brother," said Zoe. "We can't take her down. Come help us."

"Yeah, big bro" (Emilia) "You're strong enough to take her down." (Ella)

"Well, Jaune tried to once and I send him flying across the courtyard."

"Did you have to bring that up, Nora?"

"Alright, that's enough you three." Entering the doorway was Claire, the third sister at age 12. Claire had short brunette hair with green eyes. "If you keep doing that, you won't have dinner tonight." The three siblings frowned in disappointment and let go of Nora. "Hi bro, long time no see."

"Hey, Claire. You been taking care of them with mom have you."

"Yeah, that's my job since the other two are at school. But after what happened, they came back home before you did. Other than dad, we are all here."

"I see. I guess it's that bad."

"It is Jaune." Entering the room were the two oldest sisters; Melanie at age 14 and Madeleine at age 15. Melanie had long brunette hair with green eyes and Madeleine had long blonde hair with blue eyes. Both of them attended a combat school that was not far from their home.

"They cancel everything after what happened in Vale," said Melanie. "We were watching the festival and then the Grimm attacked the city and your school."

"And to make matters worse," said Madeleine. "Those Atlas robots were attacking people. The transmission was caught off and mom and dad were worried about you. As soon as that happened they left for Vale to get you."

"Speaking of dad, where is he?"

"He's in Vale." Ren came into the room.

"Ren? You're here too?"

"Your folks invited us. After we got here, your dad went back to Vale to help clear the Grimm in the city." Ren gave a look towards Jaune, signaling that he wanted to talk without his sisters in the room.

"Claire, Melanie, Madeleine. Can you give us a moment? I have to talk to my teammates." The sisters nodded and left the room, leaving Jaune with Nora and Ren.

* * *

Ren began telling Jaune what happened from the moment they were separated. He mentioned to him the fight against the Grimm and the Atlas robots, and how they struggled to survive. Following that, he said that both Weiss and Ruby went back to get both him and Pyrrha. He finished by explaining what happened to Jaune when he was rescued and them receiving the news about Pyrrha. Ren, however, was interrupted before he could mention the events that occurred to team RWBY.

"I see," Jaune said. "That must have been hard. I'm glad that all of you are here."

"We're all okay Jaune." Nora telling Jaune. "It was hard to hear about Pyrrha. She was one of us. She was our friend and we all loved her. But now…" Nora looked down.

"Jaune. What happened after we split." Ren asked Jaune, knowing the answer was going to be painful for Jaune.

Jaune looked down, trying to piece the words carefully of everything that occurred. He began with the secret basement and how Pyrrha was going to receive these powers. He could only say what Pyrrha told him about the maiden's powers. He continued on with Cinder (refer to as that woman since they never knew her name) taking the power and how Ozpin hold her back as they escape.

"We made it to the ground floor, but we heard that woman getting up to the tower. We couldn't believe that Ozpin was defeated. That's when Pyrrha wanted to go up the tower. I tried to stop her but she kissed me." When Jaune mention that moment, Nora put her head on Ren's shoulder, sighed, and whispered " _she did it._ " to him. "But after that, she pushed me into a locker and sent me flying to Vale." Jaune continued with what occurred when he was in the locker and how he managed to climb to the top of the tower.

"When I reached the top, I saw Pyrrha about to die. She had an arrow in her ankle and she couldn't move. I made it in time to save her. That's when I fought against that woman. From what I saw downstairs and how both Pyrrha and especially Ozpin lost to her, I knew I didn't stand a chance. But I had to try, and I did. I had no chance of defeating her but I knew that I had to buy time for Ruby and Weiss to get up the tower and rescue Pyrrha.

It was a tough fight. I manage to get the best of her and knocked her down for a bit. When that happened, I knew that was our moment to get out, but it was hard for us to get down with Pyrrha hurt. I remember kissing her and confessing my feelings to her. After that, I wanted to climb down the elevator shaft while carrying Pyrrha even though it would have been difficult. But our luck ran out when she used those powers. She didn't use them before I took her down. She was furious when I did take her down and I could tell by her attacks. I tried my best to withstand her attacks, but they were too much for me and I took that fire of hers. My body couldn't move and she hit me again."

As Jaune continued, he began to tear up. "I was going to die up there. I was ready to die. She fired an arrow towards me when… when …" Jaune found it difficult to find the next words. "Pyrrha… she took the arrow in the heart…" Jaune began to cry as loud as he can. "She saved me… she took the arrow… she said that she'll always… love me… and… she turned to… turned to ash… That should have been me... not her. I should have died up there." Ren and Nora went up to Jaune to comfort him.

"Jaune. Don't be hard on yourself," said Nora as she began to cry as well. "You gave it everything you had. She loved you enough to protect you. She saw you in bad shape and she could not have live with herself knowing that you were going to die. She wouldn't forgive herself if you had died. She loved you Jaune. She loved you."

"But why… why did I have to live? She did everything to save me... I loved her. I wanted her to be safe. She didn't deserve it. I did. Pyrrha!"

"Jaune," said Ren. "Let it out." Jaune cried while blaming himself for Pyrrha's death. Ren then handed Jaune the crown of Pyrrha.

"Her crown."

"Ruby's uncle found it when he went up and saved you both."

"Pyrrha." Jaune held the crown and held back his tears for a bit. "Her crown. It's all that left of her. I'll treasure it." Jaune looked up to both Ren and Nora. "Guys, thank you. I just going to stay here for now. I like to be left alone"

"Of course. Nora. Come on."

"Jaune," said Nora. "Take your time. We'll be here if you need us."

Ren and Nora left Jaune in his room.

"Do you think he'll be alright?"

"He will. It's just not going to be easy. It will be hard for him, for all of us to move forward."

After Ren and Nora left the room, Jaune began to speak to himself while holding her crown.

"I don't think I can make it through this life without you, Pyrrha. Of all the things I have been through during my time at Beacon, you were my guiding light. You help me through the toughest times there. In our last moments spent together, I tried to help you fight and I couldn't save you. Why? Why did you take her away from me? You robbed me of my light. It was supposed to be me. I was supposed to be taken away."

He looked out the window. It was still autumn but for Jaune, it did not feel like it.

"It has gotten cold without you here. Pyrrha. The world has gotten cold without you."

* * *

 **A/N:** **Here is a list of the sisters. I gave most of them French names. It's a little hard to keep to come up with seven names.**

 **Madeleine - Age 15, Long Blonde Hair & Blue Eyes**

 **Melanie - Age 14, Long Brunette Hair & Green Eyes**

 **Claire - Age 12, Short Brunette Hair & Green Eyes**

 **Diane - Age 11, Short Blonde Hair & Black Eyes**

 **Zoe - Age 9, Short Brunette Hair & Blue Eyes**

 **Emilia - Age 8, Short Blonde Hair & Blue Eyes**

 **Ella - Age 8, Short Blonde Hair & Green Eyes**

 **I wanted to keep the blonde hair from his father along with the brunette hair from the mother.**

 **As for the last line, it was a reference to the song " Cold." The song is in the Volume 3 Soundtrack and references of it will appear in the remaining chapters.**

 **The next chapter focuses on Jaune's journey to recovery. Until next time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 Road to Recovery Part 1**

 **A/N: This chapter is about Jaune and his father, who I haven't really thought of a name at this point. It will be the first step of recovery for Jaune.**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**

* * *

 _At the Arcs House_

Ten days had passed since Jaune had woken up. It was morning. Downstairs, Ren was helping Mrs. Arc with breakfast by cooking his signature pancakes.

"That smells good," said Melanie.

"I know," replied Madeleine. "Hey, Nora. Isn't awesome to have a boyfriend who cooks pancakes every morning for you?" Nora, who was sitting across from them, choked a bit on her drink when Madeleine questioned her.

"Umm, well we aren't together together. We have been together for a long time. He is attractive. Don't get the wrong idea." Nora had a light blush on her cheek, and the two sisters giggled.

"Well, can I have him so he can cook for me?" Madeleine asked Nora.

"What am I his keeper?"

"I think so," replied Melanie. "We wouldn't mind having him around since school is cancel."

"But if he stays and I leave, I won't have my pancakes and I'll be sad. I need my pancakes. Ren are they ready!? I'm starving."

"So demanding," Madeleine said to Melanie while making the whipping noise.

"And strong. I heard she send Jaune flying across Beacon during practice. And she took out everyone in team BRNZ with one swing in the tournament. I wouldn't want to make her angry." Melanie gave a shiver look to her sister after saying that.

"Well I see you all are having a good time," said Claire while getting the three younger sisters ready for breakfast. "You could be helpful by dealing with Zoe and the twins." Melanie and Madeleine rejected her plea.

"Pancakes are ready." Ren appeared to the table with multiple plates of pancakes. He knew that Nora would eat a lot and made enough to feed her and everyone. Everyone was seated except for Jaune and Diane, who were upstairs.

"Diane, could you get Jaune downstairs? It's time for breakfast." Mrs. Arc yelling to her daughter.

"He's still not coming out mom," Diana said as she walked down the stairs.

Since he woken up, Jaune had spent most of his time in his room. He never left his room other than to use the bathroom. The food was brought to him and everyone was worried about him. His body was recovering well but his emotional state had yet to improve.

"I'll send his food up for him," said Diane. Of all the sisters that Jaune had, Diane was the only one that looked up to him since Jaune saved her one time from an incident where she almost drowned. She knocked on the door. "Big bro. Your food is here." Jaune opened the door, looking like a mess.

"Thanks, Diane." Jaune took his plate into his room. He was about to close the door when Diane stopped him.

"Look big bro. I know things haven't been good lately. I know that she meant a lot to you. But you can't live like this. Pretty soon you won't be the Jaune that I remember. Please, big bro come downstairs, talk with us. Hang out with us" Jaune stood there taking her words before closing the door on her. "Big bro please."

The others saw Diane come back to the table and they were disappointed in Jaune's actions. Then the main door open. It was Mr. Arc.

"Hi everyone." Zoe and the twins went to hug their father while the others just stayed at the table. "It's good to see you all."

"Hi honey. How was your trip?"

"Exhausting. We were able to clear much of the city of Grimm. However, the school has attracted a lot more Grimm. As much as I wanted to stay, they said that Grimm attacks around the surrounding villages had increased in the last few days. I knew that I have to come back and look out for all of you."

"I haven't noticed. I think we been fortunate enough to be safe. But nonetheless, we have Melanie and Madeleine plus Jaune's friends to help us fight those creatures."

"Speaking of Jaune, is he awake?"

"He woke up a few days ago. He hasn't left his room, however. He is still hurting about losing his comrade."

"I see. I'll go talk to him."

* * *

After breakfast, Mr. Arc went upstairs to talk to Jaune.

"Hey dad."

"Hello son. How are you feeling."

"I could be better."

"Jaune. Your mother has told me that you haven't left this room since you woke up. You have to get out and enjoy these moments with us."

"Dad, I appreciate it but I'm fine with just being here in my room."

Mr. Arc stood there a bit before saying his next words. "Jaune get dress. You and I are going on a little trip. Take your weapon as well." Jaune complied with him and got dress.

"Everyone, Jaune and I will be out for a few hours. Until then listen to your mother, Madeleine, and Melanie along with Jaune's friends." With that Jaune and his father left the house to begin their trip.

* * *

Jaune and his father walked on a paved road that led to the mountains and a nearby village. As they walked, Mr. Arc tried to talk to Jaune about the area but Jaune only responded with a "yeah" every time. As they continue walking up the mountains, they were nearing the cliffs that overlooked the village. Both of them sat down at the edge and began to talk.

"Dad is there some reason you brought me up here?"

"Yes, there is. My father took me up here all the time when I had my problems when I was your age. Tell me son, this comrade of yours was special to you right."

"She was. She helped me become a better fighter, a better leader, and a better person. With her, I changed for the better. At first, I wanted to do all of that by myself and I shrugged her off. I wanted to be like you, and grandpa and I thought I needed to do that on my own. I was wrong and she still was willing to help me. We had a lot of good times together, but I failed to realize that she was in love with me. And she was a renown warrior who won so many competitions and could fight off an entire team by herself. I never heard of her before I met her and she loved me because I never saw like everyone else did. To me, she was just an ordinary person with great talents. She confessed to me on that day her feelings and I told her mines as well. That moment was short lived because she saved me from being killed. She died right in front of me. That should have been me." Jaune punched the ground. "That should have been me, not her."

"Jaune. I had no idea that you loved her."

"Well, now you know."

"Jaune your story reminds me of one that happen to me long ago." Jaune looked over and raised his eyebrows.

"Wait, are you saying that you lost someone dear when you were my age?"

"Well a little older than you but yes I did lose someone dear to me." His father looked down and reveal to him a chain necklace that he carries around him.

"Is that something she gave you?"

"Yes. I never told your sisters about this story. Just like you, I attended Beacon to become the warrior that I am today. I heard stories of how our fathers were the best warriors around these parts. I wanted to become one so I enrolled into Beacon. I passed the entrance exam and I was made the leader of my team. In my team were a girl named Sylvie and a brother and sister duo named Thomas and Caroline. Together we formed team MSTC (Mystic)."

"The four of us struggled to work together during the first weeks of school, especially with team STRQ getting the better of us during combat practice. Team STRQ was made up of Summer, Taiyang, Raven, and Qrow. Eventually, we all got along with team STRQ and became the greatest of friends. During the first few weeks, I rejected any help, thinking that I needed to do everything myself. That only resulted, however, in our failure. I needed to improve my leadership skill. My comrades suggested to train me. I rejected the idea the first time. However, I accepted it after Raven from team STRQ beat me up for making the moves on her." Jaune thought back to the moments he made the moves towards Weiss and was glad that he didn't get beaten up by her.

"With their help, I improved my fighting style and leadership. After that our missions were successful with no problems and at the end of the first year, we made it to the finals of the Vytal Festival. We ended up facing team STRQ. That battle was something. All eight of us gave everything we had. In the end, only me and Summer were left standing. It was leader versus leader. It was a hard fought battle between us but she won in the end."

"Then after four years, we all graduated and the eight of us went our separate ways. Thomas and Caroline went back to their home and did missions on their own for a while. Taiyang and Raven fell in love with each other while Qrow and Summer did their missions together for a while. Sylvie and I also fell in love with each other and decided to work together for a bit. For the most part, our missions succeeded with no problems. As for me and Sylvie, we grew closer each time and thought about having children together."

Jaune interrupted. "But something happened to her right?"

"Yes. One day we received a distress call from Thomas and Caroline. Their village was attacked by a large number of Grimm. I contacted everyone I knew to see if they were willing to help. The problem, however, was that Sylvie and I were the only ones close enough to reach there. Everyone else would take a while to arrive. We arrived at the village to help out Thomas and Caroline and team MSTC were reunited. Our team handled the majority of the Grimm that came through. Things were looking up for us, that is until they appeared."

"A type of Grimm appeared that we had heard about but never seen before. These Grimms were huge. They had bull horns on their head, with strong upper body strength and armor covering their chest. They were called Minotaur and they were strong. Compare to the Beowolves and Ursas, these Grimms were a class of their own. At first, they were five, but then more appeared. In all, they were about fifteen of them in total. We fought our hardest to defeat them all, but we were outnumbered. We barely managed to defeat the first five before the other ten arrived. I decided that it would have been best to retreat. The others agreed, however, they were still a number of people left in the village. I agreed to hold of the Grimm while the others took the villagers to safety. I was only able to take down one of them. Their strength was too much for me to handle and they outnumbered me. I told my team to keep going and get the villagers to safety. The Grimm were too much for me and I was down on the ground, all batter and bruised."

"I was near death. One of the Minotaur was charging towards me with its horns. I knew he was going to kill me. I laid back and accepted it. That's when Sylvie came from out of nowhere and jumped in front of the Grimm. She took the hit, and the horns had struck her vital organs. I couldn't believe it. I got up to her. She was still alive but she was dying. I got angry and began to attack the Grimm with everything I had left. Through my anger, I defeated two of them before my body gave out on me. I couldn't stand up and I crawled towards Sylvie. That's when team STRQ arrived. Thomas and Caroline showed up after getting the villagers to safety and together they handled the rest of the Grimm and saved us."

"They examined Sylvie's wounds and told us that she was not going to make it. I was beside her until the end. We share our feelings towards each other. And then she was gone. She was gone right there. I blamed myself after she died. I didn't want to do anything after that. My friends tried their best to comfort me, but I didn't budge. I felt like I lost everything that day. I even thought about giving up being a hunter. That's when the villagers I saved found me. They thanked me for saving them, however, I didn't budge. They realize what I was going through. They told me they found the necklace that she had around her and gave it to me. I was grateful for them and realize that though she may be gone, she still lives with us as long we remember her. I look up at the stars at night and I see the one we both pick when we were dating. For as long as that star remains in the sky, I won't say goodbye to her. I don't have to say goodbye to her. It would be a few years before I learn to love again. Then I met your mother and two years later we had you."

"Dad. Your story. It hurts to think about it, doesn't it? You experienced the same thing I did. Did all the Arc family experience the same thing?"

"I don't know. Your grandfather was naturally strong when he became a hunter so probably not."

"I see. Well, dad, you are right. I won't let her time training me to go to waste. I will become stronger so I will never let that happen again."

"No matter what, they may be gone but you must keep fighting on for their sake. They are never gone as long as you remember them and honor them every time. For as long as they remain here in our hearts and in our minds, they will continue to live and to guide us forward even after death." Jaune looked up at his father, taking every word to heart.

"I will get stronger. Dad thank you. Oh, and can you help me with something when we get back."

"Don't worry my son, I'll help you with anything you need. Well, it's getting late. Let's go home." As both father and son began their journey home, a scream was heard. Then multiple growls soon after. "Grimm are attacking the nearby village. Jaune we must rescue the villagers." Jaune agreed and prepared for battle.

"It's a good thing I brought Crocea Mors with me. What about you, dad?"

"I made this sword after I gave you Crocea Mors." He drew his sword. It was similar to Crocea Mors but the blade was longer than it and the handle was a different color. However, he did not have a shield to go with it.

"Let's go Jaune!"

* * *

 **A/N: As much as I want to write a story about Jaune's father, I won't be able to due to time constraint. With that being said, this story is nearing its end. Only a few chapters to go. The next chapter will be about Jaune fighting off the Grimm. Until next time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 Road to Recovery Part 2**

 **A/N: Continuation of the previous chapter**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**

* * *

Jaune and his father race towards the village that had come under attack by the creatures of Grimm.

"We getting close. Jaune prepare to fight."

"Dad what about the villagers?"

"They are our first priority. We have to get them to safety above all else."

Both arrived at the village to see the Grimm roaming around. The village had seen Grimm attacks before. However, with the recent events in Vale and Beacon, Grimm attacks became frequent. A little too frequent. The village did have huntsmen and huntresses that protected them. The problem was that with the attack on Vale and Beacon, a number of them had been called up to clear Grimm in the city. This left only a few of them to protect the village.

"I thought this village had huntsmen to protect it dad?"

"It did. However, a large number of them were called up. They are a few here, most likely trying on the other parts of the village. It seems that they are too many Grimm for them to handle. Jaune lets go."

Mr. Arc led the charge and attack the first Grimm that he saw. Jaune followed him and attacked another Grimm. The Beowolves howled and began to charge at them. About ten showed up at first, but both of them handled them easily.

"Jaune check the buildings. If you see a large group, do not try and fight them." Mr. Arc knew that Jaune had not fully recovered and did not want him to overexert himself fighting the Grimm.

"I will dad. Just watch your back." The duo separated, Jaune going in one direction while his father towards another. The other huntsmen were on the other side of the village, fighting off against the larger portion of Grimm. Despite their efforts, a number of them had managed to get through the village. A number of villagers had already fled to safety, however, a number of them remained in the village.

Mr. Arc was running forwards when he saw a group of Beowolves surrounding a few women and children. He charged forward. With his sword, he cut the head of one of them to draw their attention.

"Get out of here. I'll hold them off." In front of him were eight Beowolves. "You want to play? Then let's play."

One of the Beowolves charged straight at him. He ducked and stab him in the chest. He lifted him up with his sword, swung him around and threw him to another charging Beowolf. He jumped into the air and landed on top of another Beowolf, stabbing it in the back. As he recovered, one of them went at him. Using his left hand, he grabbed him by the neck and stab it in the chest. Two Beowolves charged at him from both sides. He jumped in the air, narrowly avoiding both. He landed on the head of the Beowolf that charged from his left. Using all of his weight, he pressed its head down to the ground and killed it. The other Beowolf charged at him while Mr. Arc recovered. He turned around in time to stab the oncoming creature through the mouth. The remaining two Beowolves howled and charged at him. Mr. Arc threw his sword at one them, impaling his eye. Only one remained. Mr. Arc prepared and using both hands, he grappled with the Beowolf's mouth. Using all of his strength, he ripped apart the Beowolf's mouth and killed it.

"There. All gone." Mr. Arc went to pick up his sword when the villagers he saved went towards him and praised his actions. "It was nothing. But now head towards safety. This place is not safe." As the villagers left, he saw more Grimm appear. "Well, time for round two."

* * *

Jaune had fought a few Ursas as he checked building after building for anyone that was trapped. So far he had rescued seven people who were trapped by the Grimm. As he continued towards the center of the village, he saw three children along with their mother who was trapped under the rubble of a destroyed statue. The children tried desperately to get their mother out of the rubble but were not strong enough to move it.

"Get out of here." The mother yelled at her children. "This place is not safe."

"We are not leaving you here mommy."

Jaune noticed and rushed towards them, hoping that there was no Grimm insight. As he got closer, he heard a loud howl. A Grimm appeared, but the children did not notice it. Jaune saw it, but it was one that he never saw before. He had heard about this Grimm, most recently from his father. It was the Minotaur.

"A Minotaur Grimm. What is it doing here?" Jaune then remembered a lecture that Professor Port gave about this type of Grimm. Despite rambling about his past, Professor Port did give out helpful information from time to time. Professor Port once said that these types of Grimm did exist across the kingdom and gave huntsmen and huntresses trouble when they encountered them. It was only a few years ago that these types of Grimm suddenly vanished from the kingdom and had not been seen since.

Jaune thought to himself, " _With everything that has happened, it no surprise that these types of Grimm would return. If I remember, dad had problems fighting them a few years ago. He almost died. But now I got to save those kids and their mother._ "

The Minotaur charged at them with its large horns. Jaune rushed towards them. Using his shield, he blocked the oncoming attack.

"You kids get out of here," Jaune yelled to the children.

"But we can't leave mommy behind."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure she'll be safe. I'll get mommy to safety. Now go!" The children hesitated at first but they began to run away.

"Beat that monster Mr." One of the kids said before running away.

" _Okay Jaune. You have to beat this Grimm and save this woman_." Jaune thought to himself. As he stared at the Grimm, he was shaking. This was the first time he encountered this type of Grimm. He knew how strong they are and knew he was at a disadvantage. Despite this, he knew he had to do everything to save the children's mother at all cost.

The Minotaur charged at Jaune, readying a punch. Jaune rolled out the way. When he recovered, he used his sword to slash his right arm. The attack had no effect. Jaune jumped back, only to see the Minotaur charge in with another punch. He dodged it and tried to stab its right eye. However, the creature blocked it with his left hand. The sword was stuck in its hand and Jaune tried to take it out. He was able to take it out, however, he did not see the oncoming punch from the right arm. Jaune's aura took the punch as he fell to the ground. Jaune got up and grabbed his sword. He charged in and stabbed the creature in the chest. The attack, however, did little to the creature. The Minotaur grabbed the blade with his arm and took it out. He then grabbed Jaune, threw him up in the air and gave two punches in the chest. Jaune went flying to the ground. His aura had taken the damage, however, it was a lot of pain that Jaune had received.

Jaune got up again. He saw the Minotaur walking towards him. Jaune ran around him, trying to encircle him. The Minotaur slowly reacted towards Jaune's movement. The creature stopped, and Jaune jumped behind it and stabbed it. This attack was effective as it howled in pain. Jaune continued to stab it. However, the Minotaur began to walk backward and fell on its back, crushing Jaune. The creature got up and turned around, only to see nothing. Jaune quickly recovered and hid behind the rubble of a destroyed building.

"Think Jaune think. So far his back is the only pain he has felt. None of my other attacks have work. And those punches are strong. I need to defeat him quickly. I this drags on, I won't make it. Here goes."

The creature looked around trying to find Jaune. As he got closer, Jaune prepared his sword. The creature punched away a pile of rubble where he thought Jaune would be. Instead, Jaune jumped and stabbed the creature in the eye. Jaune drove the blade deeper to its skull. The Minotaur tried to shake him off but was unable to. As Jaune's sword was nearing the skull, the creature grabbed Jaune's leg and slammed him to the ground. The creature then picked him up and threw Jaune out the building. Jaune's aura had protected him again. However, he knew that it was depleting at a rapid rate with each attack. Jaune slowly got up. He noticed the Minotaur charging towards him with his horns. Jaune raised his shield to block the attack. It was successful in blocking the attack as Jaune was pushed back.

"AHH!" Jaune yelled. Even though he blocked the attack, the force of it did damage towards his left arm. His left arm had not fully recovered from his battle against Cinder. Had it been, he would not have felt a tremendous pain. Jaune held his arm in pain and screamed loudly. Jaune knew that he wouldn't be able to block another attack if he risked breaking his left arm.

The Minotaur howled in anger. Jaune's attack towards his right eye had angered it. The creature charged towards Jaune, who was still struggling with the pain in his arm. The creature attacked with his right arm. Jaune ducked in time. As he did, he raised his sword and stabbed the arm. The blade went through the wrist, causing significant damage. Jaune tried to pull the sword out. As he did, the creature backed away while holding the right arm.

Jaune charged in and attempted to cut his arm. The creature reacted and dodge the attack by moving back before the sword made impact. Jaune remained defenseless during that moment. The creature punched Jaune with its left arm. Before he could hit the ground, the creature grabbed Jaune's leg. He slammed Jaune to the ground three times before letting go and delivering a very strong punch. The attack sent Jaune flying towards the rubble where the woman was trapped.

Jaune laid there. He was unable to move. His aura was nearly depleted. As he opened his eyes, he began to remember the moment that haunted him for the past few days. He remembered when Cinder's flamethrower attack damaged him and how he was near death after the impact. He looked around and thought about how that same moment had happened again. Only this time it was against a Grimm. As he laid there, the Grimm slowly approached him and the woman.

" _Here we are again. Just like in the tower._ " Jaune was thinking in his head. " _Can't believe that it happened again._ " He then remembered all the time people doubted him.

* * *

 ** _The thoughts in Jaune's mind_**

" _You don't deserve to be here_ " - Cardin

" _A failure like you will be killed._ " - Russel

" _Useless._ " - Dove

" _Good for laughs, you won't make it out there._ " - Sky

" _You are weak. In fact, you are nothing special. You are not that impressive._ " - Cinder

He closed his eyes and took in all the negativity from his mind.

Then Jaune heard another voice in his head.

" _Nope._ "

That voiced belong to Ruby. He remembered the conversation they had about being a team leader.

" _Nope. You're a leader now. You're not allowed to be a failure… we have to put ourselves second. I think you can be a great leader_." – Ruby

He then began to remember a few inspirational words from his teammates.

" _Our fearless leader did it! You took down a giant Ursa. You'll be strong in no time._ "- Nora

" _We've come a long way, all thanks to you Jaune._ " – Ren

Then he remembered a conversation he once had with Pyrrha.

"Jaune. You have gotten better since we first met. Our training has done wonders for us."

"It has. But what if I won't be able to face the things that will come up ahead? What if I fail and just give up?"

"Jaune. You won't just give up. It's like Ruby said, you are a leader and if you fail then we all do. If you give up, not only will you let yourself down, but you'll let everyone who has helped you down. Do you want me to feel down and make me cry because you gave up? Or do you want to make us proud and show us the strength you have?"

"If anything I never want to see you cry because of me. I promise Pyrrha that I won't give up until I give it my all. I won't give up."

"That is what I want to hear. Here, take my hand."

"Thanks for believing in me, Pyrrha."

* * *

 _ **Back to the present**_

" _If I give up now, then I let them all down. All of them work very hard to help me become the person that I am today. And if I die, then I would fail all of you. Especially you, Pyrrha. I know you are on the other side, waiting for me. As much as I want to be with you, I still have a lot to do. I want to live out the dream you and I had. Until I do, you will have to wait for me_."

The Minotaur got closer and closer to Jaune. Using all of his strength, Jaune stood up. "Pyrrha. I'll join you one day. Until then watch over me and help me keep on fighting."

As the Minotaur began to pick up speed, Jaune felt a presence over his shoulder. Whether it was real or not, Jaune knew who it belonged to. "Thank you Pyrrha."

The Minotaur threw a punch towards Jaune. Jaune dodged it and slashed the arm. The creature removed his arm and swing again. Jaune dodge the attack and stabbed the creature in the other eye as it tried to lift its arm. The creature was blinded by the attack. As it put his arms in it eyes, Jaune charged in and went for his legs. Using all of his strength he cut the creature's right leg. As it kneeled down, Jaune readied another attack.

"It's over." Jaune swung his sword with all of his strength. He decapitated the Minotaur and killed it for good. Jaune slumped backed for a moment before realizing that the woman still needed help. He went over to where she was and attempted to pick up the rubble. However, the battle had taken a toll on him and did not had the strength to lift the rubble. He heard a howl. He turned around to see a few Beowolves. He saw them and stood in front of the woman to protect her.

"Damn it. I don't have enough strength to face them all of. But I have to try." The Beowolves charged towards Jaune. Jaune raised his shield and prepared his sword to fight them. Before they could reach him, an arrow impacted the Beowolf in front.

"Jaune. Stay back." His father along with two other huntsmen arrived in time to fight off the Grimm. The Beowolves were no match for the three and were easily defeated. The trio went towards Jaune and helped the woman from the rubble.

"Jaune. What happened?"

"That creature you mention… that Minotaur… one showed up… and I killed him. It took… everything to beat him." Jaune was panting, trying to recover from his injuries.

"Don't worry. They are a few Grimm left. The other huntsmen are dealing with them. I'm surprised you managed to handle that type of Grimm."

"Is he your son?" The woman said to Mr. Arc.

"Why yes."

"He is a strong warrior. And I like to thank you for saving me and my children."

"I'm glad to help ma'am," replied Jaune.

The woman left to find her children which were in a safe place.

"Hey dad. I think today was a crazy day for us."

"It was son. We huntsmen endure these types of attacks every day in the wild."

"It's what we sign up for. But for now, I think I overdid it."

"Yes you have son. Come on. Let's go home. The other huntsmen got this area covered."

With no more distraction, an injured Jaune and his father returned home. This would be a day that Jaune would never forget.

* * *

 **A/N: We are getting closer to the end of the story. Expect the remaining chapters to be shorter than the previous one. Until next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 The Road to Recovery Part 3**

 **A/N: Not much to say until the end of the story. So enjoy.**

* * *

Jaune and his father had returned home from their battle against the Grimm.

"We're home." Mr. Arc looked around and saw no one in front of him. Usually, Zoe and the twins are there to greet him but not this time. He stepped forward when…

"Hi Dad!" Zoe and the twins were hanging upside down from the top of the celling.

"What are you three doing?"

"If I can guess, Nora had something to do with this," Jaune answered his father's question. "Let me guess. You guys are sloths."

"Yes we are sloths. The like to hang upside down, at least that what Nora told us."

"Get down before you hurt yourself. Jaune, tell that girl that she's teaching them some crazy manners."

"Boop!" Zoe said as she touched her father's nose.

* * *

Jaune went upstairs to his room where Ren and Nora along with Melanie and Madeline were talking. Before he went in, Nora was telling the sisters a story.

"So, we were having an awesome food fight between our team and team RWBY. I was the queen of the castle, queen of the castle and I order my servants to attack them."

"What did Jaune do?" Melanie asked.

"He was… taken down by a flying watermelon. I think he was out for almost the whole thing. Anyways my subjects failed and I had to step in to protect my castle. I swung my mighty watermelon hammer and knocked them out one by one."

Ren intervened in the conversation. "Until Ruby used her Semblance, which is super speed, to launch all of us and the food to the wall. And I ruined my best shirt that day."

"But it was awesome. I mean sure we lost and had to clean the entire cafeteria with toothbrushes but it was fun."

"Plus they gave us detention and banned us from the cafeteria for the rest of the week."

"Wow." Madeleine gasped in wonder. "That must have been crazy. I wish I was there. I bet you we would have won."

"Yup. You could have. Anyways, did I ever tell you the time Jaune wore one our friend's dress and skirt for a costume party? I told him that he was looking hot" Nora was about to continue to tell more about the story to the sisters, who were intrigued, when Jaune stepped into the room.

"Jaune," said Melanie. "Your back. What took you so long?"

"And why are you all so bruised up? Did you and dad had a fight?" Madeline said as she stood up.

"Long story short: dad and I had a talk about something. After that, the nearby village was under attack by the Grimm. We both went to help out the huntsmen and defeated them."

"And in your condition. They must have given you trouble." Madeline said to Jaune.

"Well, one Grimm in particular. Hey guys, do you remember that lecture Professor Port gave about the Minotaur Grimm?" Jaune looked over at Ren and Nora. Ren remembered the lesson, but Nora didn't since she dozed off that day. "I had to fight one of them. They were crazy strong. My dad told me that he had trouble fighting them on his own. It was a tough fight, but I manage to beat it."

"Wow," said Nora. "Those things are crazy strong. I wanted to fight one."

"It's good to hear that you manage to kill it. Tell me. How strong was it?" Ren said towards Jaune.

"That thing. Well, it almost killed me. I was scared. That moment when it had me, it was like that moment. That same moment when that woman took me down and was ready to kill me. I realize that I didn't want that to happen again. I don't want anyone I care about die because of me. That is why we are going to get stronger so that way we won't be beaten that easily."

"Awesome," said Nora. "Let's get to work then. I have this crazy workout plan for all of you."

"Let's start tomorrow morning. I'm in no shape to do anything." Jaune laid down in his bed.

"Hey bro," said Madeline. "Can we work out with you guys? I mean since school is cancel, we have nothing to do. Plus, we have to get stronger too if we plan to become huntresses." Jaune nodded at his sisters. He knew they wanted to become huntresses and he wanted to help them out in any way they can.

* * *

A few days had passed. The team had trained every day in the area nearby their house. The training process was vigorous for everyone, especially for Madeline and Melanie. Nora's workout plan was too much for them.

"How does… she do it?" Madeline asked her sister as she pants with each word.

"I don't know, but if it works… for her it… should work for us." Melanie replied also panting.

"Did I say you can stop?" Nora yelled at the sisters. "Now run three more laps and then bench those logs 765 times." The sisters were getting tired. Meanwhile, Jaune and Ren were on their own. Ren had decided to train Jaune to improve his aura.

"You're getting better Jaune. Keep this up and your aura will be stronger in no time."

"I know. I'm surprised that I have healed up quicker during these past few days. I can't wait until I'm one hundred percent."

"You will be. Until then take it easy." As they ended their training, Ren asked Jaune a question. "So Jaune. What are we going to do? Once you heal up, what are you going to do?"

"I've been thinking about that. As much as I want to go out there and find those responsible, we have no clue as to where they are. I doubt that they are anywhere around Vale and Beacon. We have to stop them and make things right again."

"As you said, we have no idea where they are. They could be far away. And with long range communications out, there is no way of finding anything from the other kingdoms." As Ren finished his sentence, they saw a man running in the forest.

"Help, help" yelled the man. "Grimm are heading towards the village. Help."

"Ren! Get Nora and my sisters. We have to stop them before they get there."

* * *

The Grimm, consisting of Beowolves and Ursas were nearing the village. They got closer when… BOOM!

"Nora Smash." Nora came flying and smashed her hammer to the ground. This caused the Grimm in the front to be blown away by the impact. Jaune, Ren, Melanie, and Madeleine all arrived behind Nora and prepared their weapons.

"Alright, everyone. We have to prevent them from entering the village. Melanie, Madeleine, if you see any Minotaur Grimm, do not try and fight them. Come to us immediately got it." The two sisters nodded. The five charged in and began to take out the Grimm.

"Take this. And that." Melanie said as she attacked the Grimm. Her weapon was a spear that can transform into two smaller pistols. She can also use the tip of the spear to fire shots if she wanted to. Madeleine's weapon was a sword that can

Madeleine's weapon was a sword that can use Dust and trigger their power upon contact. The weapon could be similar to Weiss's Myrtenaster, however, it lacked the range capabilities and it could only hold one type of Dust at a time. Madeleine often used lighting type Dust with her weapon, but did have the other type of Dust if needed. Both were taking care of the Grimm with ease.

"Keep it up!" Jaune said as he slashed a Beowolf's head off. Nora and Ren were taking care of their Grimm with little problem. Everything was looking up for the group as all the Grimm were defeated.

"Well, that's all of them." Everyone cheered as they began to head back. Just then, a roar came through the forest. Coming towards them was the creature that nearly killed Jaune. A Minotaur Grimm.

"So that's a Minotaur." Nora yelled with excitement. "Don't worry we are all here to take care of it."

The Minotaur howled and charged in. Everyone jumped out the way to avoid the attack. Melanie used her spear and stabbed it in the back. As the Minotaur reacted to the pain, Ren used his weapons and shot at the left leg of the creature. Nora used her hammer and gave the right leg a powerful blow, causing the Minotaur to fall down.

"Come on Ren. We got to break its legs!"

Madeleine stabbed the creature in the chest and gave it an electrical charged through its body. As the Minotaur kneel to what was left of its knee after the combine attacks, Jaune charged in and stabbed the creature from the mouth to its head, killing it.

"We did it!" Melanie yelled.

"Is that it? I thought they be tougher." Madeliene said as she looked at everyone.

"When you face them by yourself they are tough. However, if you face them with the help of your teammates, then they are no match." Jaune looked at both Ren and Nora, nodding in agreement. Before they could go further, two more Minotaur appeared.

"Great more of them." Ren sighed.

"All right!" Nora yelled. Nora then jumped towards one of them and was preparing to hit it with her hammer. The Minotaur, however, reacted and blocked the attack with its hands. As it did, the Minotaur grabbed the hammer, swung it around with Nora hanging on, and threw it towards a tree. Luckily, the hammer took the impact instead of Nora.

"Now you see what I meant by handling them by yourselves." As Nora recovered, Jaune coordinated the group's attack."Let's do this. Madeleine and Melanie, you are with me. Ren and Nora, Flower Power on the other Minotaur."

Ren stumbled. "What? Jaune I thought we made it clear that our team attack was going to be called something else instead of Flower Power."

"Yeah," Nora replied. "I wanted us to be called Thunder Ninja, Thunder Flower or ..." Nora looked down before saying the next one. "Or Renora, which is our name put together."

"Nora. I never agreed on that name." Ren said to her. "That name sounds good for... for other things besides a team attack."

"But it fits so perfectly. Renora."

"Um guys," Melanie interjected. "Can we talk about your love life another time. Those Minotaurs are heading this way."

"It's team attacks Melanie!" Nora yelled to her.

"Well, whatever you want to call it. But seriously there getting closer."

"Fine. You're right. Come on. Let's get them!" Jaune yelled as the group charged in to take on the two Minotaur Grimm.

* * *

 _At the Arc's House_

"Kids you're back." Ms. Arc greeted the five as they entered the house. "How was your training?"

"Exhausting," replied Jaune. The battle against the two Minotaur Grimm took a lot of the group's energy and they return home with exhaustion.

"If you need us we'll be upstairs." The five slowly made their way upstairs.

 _Jaune's Room_

"No wonder people said they were difficult to defeat." Madeleine was talking out loud. "Those things are crazy strong."

"The first one was easy because we all teamed up to defeat it." Melanie replying to her sister. "But we split up to defeat the other two. Jaune, you, and I took care of one while Ren and Nora took care of the other one."

"And we didn't fare much better," Ren said. "It took a while to take him down just between the two of us."

"But that was a good workout for today." Nora was jumping in her bed. "I can't believe we beat them. I want to fight more of them."

"You won't last against a group of them by yourself," said Jaune.

"Nora, where do you still have the energy to jump around?" Melanie asked to her.

"She just does." Ren answering her question.

"I say it was a good day. If we keep this up, we will get stronger in no time." Jaune was cheerful. This was the first time that Jaune was feeling like this since that fateful night. "Let's get some rest and continue tomorrow."

"Yes. That's our leader!" Nora yelled. "And you girls we will add more exercises to our workout tomorrow." The sisters groaned in disappointment and left the room.

"So, when are we leaving?" Ren asked Jaune.

"I have no idea right now. But we do know that we have to get stronger and be prepared."

"Yes. You are right Jaune. We'll make sure you'll be ready for whatever comes our way. Why don't we set out tomorrow? We can leave right away." After Nora finished her statement, Ms. Arc was standing by the door.

"Mom. What are you doing here?"

"Oh! I'm just listening to the three of you. You know, all of you remind me of the team I was in and the team your father was in. Those were the days."

"So you heard about us leaving here?"

"Yes. And all I can say is do your best." The trio looked in confusion, thinking that she would not let them leave.

"Really? I thought you were going to tell us to stay."

"You see Jaune, even though you are still hunters and huntresses in training, you are the next generation. Our generations have responsibilities to take care of. Like your father and I. If we could, we would join you in your mission to fix everything. However, we have to take care of your sisters, our children. Melanie and Madeleine are still young and still in training. We can't go on your journey knowing the risk of something bad that may occur to our children. They're not ready to fight. Melanie and Madeleine can't defend all of them if a large wave were to attack. That's why you three are the ones who have to go and make things right again."

"Wow mom. I never thought of it like that. So it's just going to be us going to where ever the enemy are."

"Yes. When you're all grown up and start your own family, you will all know how much more responsibility will be put on you." Ms. Arc looked at both Ren and Nora and winked at them. Nora blushed a little while Ren just stood there silently.

"Um, mom. I think you embarrassed them."

"Oh! I'm sorry you two. It's just that you two are always around each other so often that I thought you were…"

"We are not together together ma'am. We have just been together for a long time. I mean its… its…" Nora couldn't find the words to continue her conversation.

"It's alright," Ren said. "Many people get confused when we mention that. Even Jaune thought the same thing."

"Anyways. Even though all three of you are planning on leaving, you are all not going anywhere."

"But mom."

"No buts young man. Not until you get better. Until then, you are staying put here understand. I may have aged but I can still take you on right here and in front of your friends. Would you want me to make you kiss the ground and give you a spanking?" Nora and Ren giggled at the idea of Jaune being spanked by his mother. Jaune complied and decided it was best not to make her mother angry.

"Alright mom. We'll leave when I get better."

"Thank you Jaune. Now you, three need your rest. It has been a long day. Goodnight."

"Well, you heard her. We are staying here for a little while longer." Jaune said to his teammates as they all prepare to sleep for the night.

"Tomorrow is another day." Ren said to both Nora and Jaune. "And tomorrow we will train to get stronger."

"Yes. Thanks Ren." Jaune replied. "Goodnight everyone." With that, the trio went to sleep.

* * *

 _At an Unknown Location_

"What did I tell you?"

"You told me to be careful and to never underestimate an opponent no matter how strong or weak they are."

"And look what happened to you Cinder. Sure you gain the Maiden's Power. However, you return here all batter and bruised against an opponent in which you thought was inferior to you. You could have been killed out there and put our plan in peril. Make sure that it will never happen again. Understood!?"

"Yes. I understand. I shall never underestimate an opponent no matter how strong or weak they are."

"Good. Now because of your actions, chances are they will be looking for you. They want their revenge."

"It won't matter. They won't get their revenge if I can kill them first. Besides, we're far away from them. They won't reach us before we put our next plan into actions. Ha ha ha!"

* * *

 **A/N: I enjoyed teasing Renora in this story. We all know that it's a thing but neither one will admit it, at least not yet.**

 **As far as the story, we are coming to a close. The next chapter will be the last chapter of this story. I would want to continue the story by focusing on the events during the time skip, but I personally did not want to write beyond the ending of Volume 3. Maybe I'll consider it in the future. Until next time.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 Cold**

 **A/N: The Final Chapter to our story**

* * *

Three weeks had passed. Winter had come across the lands. Jaune and the others were busy training again. During the three weeks, they have defended the nearby village from Grimm attacks. Because of their actions, Grimm attacks became less frequent and the villagers were glad that they could live without worrying about them.

"Come on ladies. Keep up with me." Nora was again over working the sisters. By this point, their workout had increased in number and in variety. "Keep up creampuffs. I want you two to beat those Grimm with your bare hands."

Nearby, Jaune and Ren were resting from their workout.

"Nora sure is working them hard," Jaune said.

"She sure is. I hope they can handle it. They have been at this for a month now."

"Yeah she has. Both have improved, but I'm worried she might break them. Remember when we tried her work out strategy?"

"Yeah, our bodies were beyond sore. I think you were in a cast."

"Wait I was in a cast? Huh, I don't remember that. I think that was just a dream."

"I think so. But every time I remember her training us, I imagine us smaller than usual."

"Small? Like short and cuter, or just younger? That's weird. Next, you're going to say that you remember us smaller when we play that game of spin the bottle and it landed on you when it was my turn?"

"That never happened. Where did you get an idea like that?"

"I don't know. Hehe. Probably the effects of Nora's training." **[A/N: The last six lines were references from RWBY Chibi]**

"Wait didn't Pyrrha almost broke her arm that one time?"

"Yeah she almost did. She was so angry at Nora that she almost wanted to kill her. It was a good thing that she was exhausted or she would have done it."

"Ha ha. That's true. She would have done it."

"Speaking of which, in a serious fight who would win between the two? I say Pyrrha would have won."

"She could if she found a way to overcome Nora's crazy strength. I bet Nora would have won."

"Of course you would pick her. She's pretty much everything that goes with the word girlfriend without actually saying the word."

"And you picked Pyrrha because she was the same."

"Yup. It's only natural for us guys to choose our own girls over anyone else."

"That's true." Both Ren and Jaune laughed at the conversation they just had.

"So, when are you going to tell her Ren?"

"Beg your pardon."

"You know. Your feelings towards Nora."

"Um. I kind of don't want to."

"But you have to. Pyrrha told me it was better to know than not knowing. Not knowing how they feel can hurt on the inside, especially if something happened to them."

"Pyrrha always said the words we always wanted to hear."

"She always did. She always knew what to say."

"Yeah she did."

"Plus I have liens on you."

"Wait. What?"

"Oh… um…" Jaune stumbled with his words. "Back at Beacon, Blake, Sun, Pyrrha, and I all bet that you would be the one to confess first. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Neptune and his team, and everyone in Team CFVY bet that Nora that she would have confessed first."

"Really? All of you made bets on who would confess first."

"Well, it's obvious that you two are so into each other. We just wanted to have some fun."

"And now that you said that, I will not confess so that you guys can win money."

"Oh come on. I bet 200 liens on you!"

"Nope."

"You're no fun."

As the two remanences, they stood up and began to resume their training. Before Jaune could draw his sword, he heard a noise.

"What? My scroll?" Jaune looked at his scroll to see who was calling him. "Ruby!?" Jaune picked up the phone and talked to Ruby.

* * *

Jaune return to the others who were waiting on him.

"It was Ruby."

"Ruby!?" Nora said. "She's okay."

"Yeah, she is. She asked us if we are willing to join here."

"To where?" Ren asked.

"She said that her uncle told her that the enemy is heading towards Haven."

"But Haven is all the way in Mistral. To get there we have to get to the ports on the eastern part of the kingdom." Nora said to the group.

"And with long range communications still down, we can't contract any airship to take us there. We have to walk all the way there and then get on a boat towards the other continent."

"I know it's a long way, but we have no other lead. We have to go, not just for us but for everyone." Ren and Nora nodded in agreement.

"But what about us?" Madeleine asked.

"As much as I want to take you, I can't risk it. The Grimm outside the known kingdoms are crazy strong. Plus, it's a long way to get to Haven. It will take weeks, maybe months to get there on foot. You have to understand that the both of you are not ready. At least not yet. Besides mom and dad will need help in taking care of the house and of the family while we are gone."

The sisters agreed with what Jaune said. "We understand. We'll be waiting."

"Thank Melanie, Madeleine." Jaune looked over to Ren and Nora. "I'm surprised that Ruby asked us. I wonder why Weiss, Blake, and Yang wouldn't want to join her."

"Oh, that's right." Ren responded. "You were unconscious. We never told you what happened to them."

"Wait. What happened to them?"

Ren sighed before answering his question. "The attack on the school affected everyone we know. When Yang went to find Blake, she encountered an old acquaintance of Blake. Yang tried to fight him. However, she ended up losing her right arm. When we got to the safe zone in Vale, Blake ran away. She hasn't been seen since. She is strong so I know she's doing alright. As for Weiss, her father picked her up and took her back to Atlas. Because communications to and from Vale are down, she has no way of contacting us here."

"Oh and Weiss told us to tell you that she cared for you and that you have a great heart," Nora said to Jaune.

"Wow. That attack affected everyone we know. All of our friends have suffered a lot. All of us are hurt both on the inside and outside." Jaune looked down, taking everything in. "And we have to make things right. Ruby need us to make things right. Come on. We set out tomorrow morning."

"Alright," Nora yelled. "It has been fun staying with your folks Jaune. Oh, let's have one more dinner with all of them."

"Yup. Sounds like the plan."

* * *

 _The next day_

Ruby was sneaking out of her house.

"Hey Jaune." She said. "Haven is a long way to go."

"I know. It's the only way we have."

"Are you sure you want to come along?"

"The journey will be perilous, and whether we'll find answers at the end is entirely uncertain." Ren said to her.

"But we wouldn't be here if we weren't up for it."

"Then let's get started." The four started their long journey towards Haven. "Before we go, I have to visit someone."

* * *

At the grave of Summer Rose, Ruby went forward and kneel in front of the grave.

"Hey mom. It's been a while since we last talk. A lot of crazy things happened lately and… and everyone I know has been affected. Oh and these are my other friends. That's Jaune, Nora, and Ren. There coming with me. But mom, bad things happen to all of us."

"Yang lost her arm. She's feeling down but I know she'll be back on her feet in no time. She just needs a little bit of time. Her partner and our best friend Blake ran away. I don't know where she went but I hope she's okay. That hurt Yang a lot. She misses Blake. And my best friend Weiss is in Atlas. I know she didn't want to go but she had no choice. I know she's doing okay but she's probably worried about us. We have no way to talk to her or to anyone outside the kingdom. I missed them both. I missed them dearly and wish they were all here."

"But most of all, I miss my friend Pyrrha. She was our friend. And she… she is gone. It hurt all of us, especially Jaune. Jaune loved Pyrrha and… and we are hurting. We all miss her. I hope you get to meet her on the other side mom so she can tell you about us. She is the nicest person you'll met."

"Mom… we are heading towards Haven. It's going to take a long time to get there, but we have no choice. I promise that we will make everything right again. All I want is for all of us to be happy again and to be together. Watch over us mom. I love you. I miss you."

Ruby prayed to her mother as she finished her speech. Meanwhile, the others were standing nearby watching over her.

"So are we ready to go?" Ruby asked.

"Wait. Before he set out. We have one more place to go."

"Lead the way Jaune."

* * *

At the hill where his father talked to him, Jaune reached the edge of the hill. The sun had gone down for the day and the stars were beginning to shine the night sky. At the edge was a makeshift gravestone with Pyrrha's symbol. Jaune and his dad made it in her honor. In the middle was her crown, encase in a glass box. Engraved in the gravestone was a quote that Pyrrha said to Jaune about destiny.

 _"_ Destiny is _not a predetermined fate you can't escape. But rather some sort of final goal, something you work towards your entire life."_

Jaune kneel down in front of the gravestone and began to talk to Pyrrha.

"Hey Pyrrha. It's been a while. I'm here with Ren, Nora, and Ruby. We… we are heading towards Haven pretty soon. It's going to be a long journey but we have to go to make things right again. I know you were there that day I fought those Grimm and I want to thank you. You gave me the strength to keep on fighting. I… I want you to hear this song I made for you."

As Jaune prepared to speak, Ruby looked up at the sky and saw something falling. It was snow. It was beginning to snow lightly. As he sang, he thought of the moments he that went along with his song.

As the snow fell, Jaune began his song.

 _"I never felt. That it was wise. To wish too much. To dream too big. Would only lead, To being crushed._

 _Then I met you, You weren't afraid, Of anything, You taught me how, To leave the ground, To use my wings._

 _I never thought a hero, Would ever come my way, But more than that, I never thought, You'd be taken away._

 _Now it's cold without you here. It's like winter lasts all year. But your star's still in the sky. So I won't say goodbye. I don't have to say goodbye."_

 _"My days of doubt,_ Were _in the past, With you around. You helped me feel, I had a place, Direction found._

 _You showed me that, A greater dream, Can be achieved, Enough resolve, Will conquer_ all, _If we believe._

 _The light you gave to guide me, Will never fade away, But moving forward never felt, As hard as today._

 _Now it's cold without you here. It's like winter lasts all year. But your star's still in the sky. So I won't say goodbye. I don't have to say goodbye."_

When Jaune finish his song, he looked down and cried. Ren, Nora, and Ruby all went to him and they all hugged him. All of them couldn't hold back their tears.

"Thanks guys." Jaune said as he everyone hugged him tightly.

"Pyrrha we will be leaving now. Watch over us. I miss you a lot. I love you."

As they all began to head down the hill, Ruby turned around to look at the gravestone one last time. When she did she saw something. She saw an image of Pyrrha, standing over the grave. She was crying and she waved towards Ruby. Ruby waved back at her. "Don't worry Pyrrha. Jaune will be safe. We all miss you."

The nearly formed team RNJR (Ranger) began their journey towards the unknown. What waits for them, no one knowns. But one thing is for sure, Jaune will be ready to take on anything that would come his way.

At the gravestone, the image of Pyrrha look over the hill and saw the team at the bottom. She spoke the words that matter most to her. These words echoed down the mountain and Jaune heard these words.

 _ **"Jaune. I Will Always Love You."**_

 **The End.**

* * *

 **A/N: This was the chapter that I wanted to write the most. I felt that this would be similar to what Jaune would say to Pyrrha if he had the chance to say his final words towards her. And yes the song is the one from the Volume 3 Soundtrack, entitled "Cold." The song has been used by the fans as a tribute towards Pyrrha, even though the song was written as a tribute for Monty Oum (may he rest in peace). It is difficult to hear the song without crying.**

 **As for the story, ending it here was my original intention. I could have continued on with it by writing about the events during the time skip. However, I felt, in my opinion, that right here is a good place to stop. Maybe in the future, I may write about the events during the time skip. As for now, I do have a few ideas for more stories. These stories include one-shot, randomness, and maybe possible future battles with the characters.**

 **Thank you all for reading this story. Until next time.**


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